Chapter 161: The Cunning Zhang Bin

2022-05-20

Most of what Zhang Bin said was believable. All we needed to do was find Du Zigui and question him, and then we’d know if Zhang Bin was lying. Gu Chen carried Wang An out, and the next to come in was Zhao Xiaoli. But Zhao Xiaoli had already said she hadn’t seen the person’s face, so she had no way of knowing if it was Zhang Bin. The voice she heard was clearly disguised too.

Meanwhile, Zhang Bin stubbornly denied doing any of it, claiming this was the first time he’d ever met Zhao Xiaoli. But we really did find his fingerprint in that room—just one, from his thumb. Zhao Xiaoli could only say Zhang Bin was built like the suspect, and that the man had a scar on his left arm.

That single detail fit Zhang Bin and no one else. Still, he wouldn’t budge.

It was understandable that Zhang Bin kept denying it. Without solid proof, based on what we had, there wasn’t much we could do. One fingerprint and Zhao Xiaoli’s uncertain statement weren’t enough to convict him.

Zhang Bin looked at Zhao Xiaoli with something like a plea in his voice. “Zhao Xiaoli, can I call you big sis? I swear, I didn’t do any of this. I’ve never even met you.”

Zhao Xiaoli eyed him, a little hesitant, but still said, “I never said it was definitely you. You just have a similar build. That person had a scar on his left arm. Do you have a scar on your left arm? If not, then it’s not you. If you do, then it must be.”

Zhao Xiaoli stayed calm. The interrogation room was soundproof, so she hadn’t heard any of the conversation between Wang An and Zhang Bin. She had no idea the man before her had been partly responsible for her sister Fang Xiaoqi’s death. If she had known, she never could have stayed so composed.

Zhang Bin was silenced by her question and suddenly snapped, almost as if anger was covering up his shame. “I get it, I get it! You all just want me dead, don’t you? Nothing I say matters, right? You’re just setting me up! Are you even Zhao Xiaoli? Where’s your ID? Show me your ID card!”

He looked like he was falling into paranoia, repeating the same script for everyone he saw. His face flushed, eyes bulging, his hysterical shouting actually startled Zhao Xiaoli. Still, she couldn’t be completely sure; maybe someone else had a scarred left arm, not just Zhang Bin.

Zhao Xiaoli left too, so the room was quiet again—just the three of us left.

Guan Zengbin closed the door and looked at Zhang Bin, who was still shouting, and spoke slowly. “Enough. Tell me, are you using your anger to hide your nerves, or are you trying to cover up the truth?”

Zhang Bin stared from Guan Zengbin to me. “Look, I admit everything I did, but nothing they’re accusing me of. I went to the internet cafe, I forced Hao Ren to leave. I found Du Zigui and beat him up. I did go to Hao Ren’s house and I did smash his window.”

Finding some confidence, Zhang Bin raised his voice again. “Yeah, and that joke I made at the dinner table, that was just talk—who says you can’t brag a little? If that’s enough to say I did it, since when is bragging against the law?”

“That’s it. That’s all I did.” Zhang Bin was yelling. “Everything else wasn’t me. I never set fire to Hao Ren’s house. I never even met Zhao Xiaoli. Maybe it was some other rich kid—maybe he paid you to make me the scapegoat!”

Guan Zengbin looked at Zhang Bin and chuckled. “You’re pretty good at making excuses. You think you’ll just get a month behind bars then walk out, huh? That’s quite the plan.”

Zhang Bin snarled, “Say whatever you want, but you all want me dead. Just remember, twenty years from now, I’ll be back a new man.”

For a moment, Zhang Bin looked like one of those legendary outlaws from Liangshan Marsh, but it didn’t last long. He broke down, tears streaming down his face. “It really wasn’t me. Go ask Zheng Shuai and Cheng Yimin—they can prove I’m innocent, I swear they can!”

“Really?” I asked him. “Where are Zheng Shuai and Cheng Yimin now?”

Zhang Bin latched onto my question. “They should be at Changshun Day Rental on Min Road in the east of town, waiting for me. Usually, they help me change my bandages. Today’s the anniversary of us staying there a whole month, so they went out to buy groceries. That’s why I came alone.”

“If you go right now, you’ll find them,” Zhang Bin pleaded, begging us to believe him.

I nodded but stayed quiet.

Guan Zengbin advised, “Leniency for confession, severity for resistance. I suggest you confess now. If you wait until we have solid evidence, it’ll be too late for anything you say.”

Zhang Bin bit his lip and lapsed into silence.

When we went out, we found Wang An clinging to Zhao Xiaoli in tears, with Gu Chen off to the side looking helpless. A quick word told us Zhao Xiaoli had just learned the truth about her sister’s death. Wang An, meanwhile, stayed calm. Maybe he’d already cried all he could—or maybe, as the only man left in his family, he had to.

A few young women went over to comfort her, and I patted Gu Chen’s shoulder to let him know it was time to go.

I gave Gu Chen the address and he drove us away.

In the car, Gu Chen remarked, “Zhang Bin’s something else. He can do the deed but doesn’t dare admit it. You saw him go hysterical in there. I want to see his face when we finally show him the evidence.”

Guan Zengbin frowned. “He’s downright dangerous and sly. Unless you’ve got ironclad proof, people like him will never confess.”

“He claims he just said something offhand at the dinner table,” Guan Zengbin said, stroking his chin. “But who knows what really happened? Du Zigui could be mixed up in anything.”

Guan Zengbin nodded in agreement. “Exactly. Zhang Bin wants that whole family ruined—wants to smash their home for good.”

I frowned, listening to Guan Zengbin, still not convinced by his reasoning.

So I asked, “And all this, just because of Hao Ren?”

Guan Zengbin nodded. “Some people are just petty. Some are just cruel. Zhang Bin admitted—after Wang An cut him twice, he went to find Du Zigui. Old grudges mixed with new, so now Zhang Bin’s capable of anything.”

I leaned forward, serious. “So that leaves one big question.”

“What’s that?” Guan Zengbin asked.

I spoke slowly. “If everything you said is right, then as soon as we find Du Zigui, the truth will come out. Is he just acting on his own, or did Zhang Bin give him a clear, strong hint?”

“But if Zhang Bin dares to act like that in the interrogation room, bluntly denying everything, then there’s only one explanation.” My tone turned icy.

“And that is?” Guan Zengbin pressed.

I sighed. “It means the main witness is dead. If Zhang Bin did it all, and the only person who knows is gone, the truth may never come out. If Zheng Shuai and Cheng Yimin are his accomplices, the three of them could easily cook up a perfect alibi for us. And if that’s the case, there won’t be any holes to poke in their story.”

“So you think…” Guan Zengbin looked worried. “Du Zigui could already be dead?”

I nodded. “Usually, the four of them come to change bandages together. But today, Zhang Bin came alone. What are the others really up to? Are they really just out buying food?”

From the rear-view mirror, Gu Chen glanced at us. “And what about Hao Ren—where’s he gone?”